Deputy Is Treated

December 13, 1986|Staff reports

JUNO BEACH -- A Palm Beach County sheriff`s deputy was overcome by smoke Friday after fighting a motel bathroom fire that may have been sparked by chemicals in an illegal drug laboratory, authorities said.

A woman, whose name was not released, suffered burns on her face, Bradshaw said. It is not known if the woman was inside the motel room when the fire started, Bradshaw said.

O`Brien was driving past the Blue Egret Motel, 11941 Federal Highway, about 3 p.m. when he heard an explosion and saw flames coming from a motel room, Bradshaw said. The explosion blew the windows out of the room, he said.

After O`Brien used a fire extinguisher to put out the fire, which was confined to a bathroom, investigators discovered the bathroom had been used as a small laboratory.

``There was all kinds of equipment -- the kind that might be used to process illegal chemicals -- inside the bathroom,`` Bradshaw said.

Deputies did not find any illegal drugs in the motel room, but are investigating whether they were there before the explosion, Bradshaw said.